posts tagged ‘social commerce’

Find our roundups collected in magazine form on Flipboard, the iOS and Android app; download the app to view this week’s edition here: http://flip.it/J6FjO -The relationship between humans and machines is getting redefined as the line between the two blurs, according to Gartner’s 2013 “Hype Cycle” report, via the FT. -As a consortium of tech […]

Everything Is Retail, as we outline in our 10 Trends for 2013: Shopping is becoming a value exchange that can play out in new and novel ways. Increasingly, almost anything can be a retail channel—even a hashtag. The Amex Sync initiative lets American Express customers sync their credit card and Twitter account, then simply tweet […]

-The Wall Street Journal‘s third annual “Next Big Thing” listing ranks the top 50 venture capital–backed startups. -An Economist special report on India argues the country is unprepared for its impending urban boom and looks at why growth is slowing, among other articles. -3D printing has the potential to dramatically change the world of medicine […]

Online clothes shopping has come a long way from the beginnings of the Internet, when consumers were split between seeing it as the ultimate in convenience (infinite inventory without leaving home!) or a big waste of time (endless scrolling through products! And why buy without trying on?). More than ever, new technologies and strategies are […]

It’s one thing for a brand to have millions of followers on Twitter; it’s another to have that army doing some work for you. American Express recently started offering a credit to customers who tweet an Amex-related promotion (e.g., #AmexWholeFoods, to receive $25 off a $75 purchase at Whole Foods). U.K.-based Park Resorts, similarly, is […]

-A digital divide between countries is widening, according to the World Economic Forum’s annual Global Technology Report, with the BRICs still lagging behind North America and the Nordic nations, as the FT reports. -McKinsey argues that global pharma companies are failing to fully capitalize on Brazil’s growing middle class. -The number of people living solo […]

-Major luxury brands enjoyed a “blockbuster” 2011 and expect an even better 2012, according to The Wall Street Journal, as “emerging markets power seemingly relentless demand.” The Journal also reports that Chinese consumers are losing interest in fakes, a shift that’s driving expansion plans in China among foreign companies. -“Down and out” is becoming the […]

This week, Google debuted Search plus Your World, which tailors search results to users’ Google+ interests and connections. In some corners of the Internet, it was “instantly reviled,” as PCWorld notes. According to research, while many consumers on the one hand appreciate information tailored to their preferences, a substantial proportion also say they prefer to […]

Earlier this month the comedian Louis C.K. announced he would sell a concert video directly to fans online for $5. The novel idea has been a hit: Grosses have already topped $1 million. Watch for more such moves as new distribution models, technologies and consumer habits translate to bypassing the traditional middleman between content creators […]

Check-ins have gone beyond physical locations for some time, with apps like Miso and GetGlue letting people check in to TV shows to enable a social viewing experience. Now GetGlue users are being incentivized to check out the fall TV schedule in a partnership that includes Entertainment Weekly and Gap. When viewers check in to […]

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A new Swedish startup is combating food waste with leftover fruit. FoPo takes nearly rotten fruit and turns it into a dry powder with a shelf life two years longer than normal fruit. The powder is being trialed in the Philippines as a way to provide disaster relief, as well as jobs, for poor communities.

Five hundred budding entrepreneurs have staged a weekend takeover of The Old Truman Brewery in London to launch Supa Market, the United Kingdom’s first youth-led pop-up market. The event enabled participants to “earn while they learned” about the retail industry.

Vice is gearing up to launch its newest vertical—Broadly, a women’s news and interest channel “for women who know their place.” The channel will cover “Sex, politics, culture, witchcraft. Women’s news you thought would exist by now.”

The online television series An African City, launched in 2014, is catching on worldwide with its depiction of five young, affluent women who have returned to Ghana after completing their studies in Western metropolises. Nicknamed the “African Sex and the City,” the show reveals a side of Africa that mainstream media rarely portrays.

Beme is a new app that takes a “ruggedly simple” approach to social sharing. Launched last week by YouTube celebrity Casey Neistat, the app lets users share raw experiences by taking away the filtering and editing that come with most social platforms.

A new brand called Abstract_ aims to give people ultra-customized looks based on their emotions. Danish designers Julie Helles Eriksen, Bjorn Karmann and Kristine Boesen have developed a way to use facial recognition technology to translate emotions into textile patterns, which customers can arrange onto various looks.

There is a small army of refrigerators waging war on discarded leftovers in Spain. From Galdakao, near Bilbao, a grassroots initiative dubbed the “solidarity fridge” provides a place for locals to share and recycle leftovers, in a nod to the growing demand for action on food waste.

Amy’s Kitchen, known for its vegetarian frozen-food products, plans to open up its first fast-food spot, Amy’s Drive Thru, later this year. Located just north of San Francisco, the restaurant will offer a new take on fast food, serving exclusively vegetarian and 95% organic items.